Anxiety disorders continued social

The onset of response to antidepressants in social anxiety disorder is delayed and may be as long as 8 to 12 weeks. Patients responding to medication should be continued on treatment for at least 1 year. 

There has been little formal study of maintenance therapy for social anxiety disorder. Limited data indicates that continued pharmacotherapy provides significant prophylactic protection against relapse. Furthermore, growing evidence indicates that patients with social anxiety disorder experience a high rate of relapse after treatment discontinuation. CBT, however, may afford continued prophylactic benefit long after conclusion of the therapy, though the data to support this contention is limited. 

Antidepressants tend to provide a more sustained and continuous improvement of the symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder than do the stimulants and do not induce tics or other abnormal movements sometimes associated with stimulants. Indeed, desipramine and nortriptyhne may effectively treat tic disorders, either in association with the use of stimulants or in patients with both attention deficit disorder and Tourette s syndrome. Antidepressants also are leading choices in the treatment of severe anxiety disorders, including panic disorder with agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, as weU as for the common comorbidity of anxiety in depressive illness. Antidepressants, especially SSRIs, also are employed in the management of posttraumatic stress disorder, which is marked by anxiety, startle, painful recollection of the traumatic events, and disturbed sleep. Initially, anxious patients often tolerate nonsedating antidepressants poorly (Table 17-1), requiring slowly increased doses. Their beneficial actions typically are delayed for several weeks in anxiety disorders, just as they are in major depression. 

The acute phase of panic disorder treatment lasts about 12 weeks and should result in marked reduction in panic attacks, ideally total elimination, and minimal anticipatory anxiety and social anxiety avoidance. Treatment should be continued to prevent relapse for an additional 12 to 18 months before attempting discontinuation. 

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